Punxsutawney Phil

Punxutawney Phil

didn't see his shadow so

Spring is on its way

Groundhog Day. On the news we hear that Punxsutawney Phil, the most famous weather-predicting groundhog, did not see his shadow, which means we're supposed to have an early Spring. However, out here in Iowa, where the weather can be dramatically different from Pennsylvania, I don't know if any of our local groundhogs came out of their den. The weather was partly cloudy and well below freezing, so if they did emerge we don't know whether they came out at the moment the sun was peeking out from a cloud, casting shadows that would supposedly scare the woodchuck back into its den. Which means that we don't know for sure whether there will be six more weeks of winter in our neck of the prairie. But since winter lingers into March just about every year, it seems like a pretty good bet.
          One thing is for sure. If we'd seen a land beaver near our house, like the fat fellow outside our sun room in an earlier photo, we would have baited a live trap with marshmallows to catch the critter and then relocate it to Turkey Run Nature Preserve, far down the road from our place. Woodchucks are phenomenal diggers, tunneling up to five feet deep and 30 feet long to build their burrows. Since our house rests on a gravel foundation, we cannot afford to let them make a den under our living room.
          Smaller rodents, the squirrels, were out and about today. I watched one tunneling through the snow, searching for seeds dropped from the bird feeder. Every few moments it would sit up to quickly devour a black oil sunflower seed or frozen wild plum. It made me smile to see its little nose capped with a white powder puff. I also had a good laugh when the squirrel tried to snatch seeds directly from the bird feeder. It climbed up the wooden frame of the full-length sun room windows and leaped onto the feeder, but its weight triggered the anti-squirrel bar to close over the seed portals and it somersaulted to the ground. Back to rooting around in the cold snow!

wild geese flying north

wild geese flying north,

groundhog doesn't see its shadow,
spring is on its way

The second day of February. Should be the middle of winter, but flocks of Canada geese are flying north at sunset. Maybe they heard the weather report from the shadowless groundhog predicting that spring is on its way. However, the human meterologist predicts snow tomorrow. What's a wild goose supposed to do? Hang around to avoid bad flying weather, or miss the best nesting spots?

shadow, no shadow

shadow, no shadow --

fog in the morning, midday

sun, clouds at sunset

Groundhog Day. According to folklore, if it's cloudy on the second day of February, spring is on its way, but if it's sunny the woodchuck will see its shadow, bolt back into its burrow and there will be six more weeks of winter. We've hardly had any winter to begin with, so if the woodchuck saw its shadow today it would more likely mean the start of winter. 
          However, it's hard to say whether the groundhog saw its shadow today or not. The day begins with thick fog, so if the woodchuck is up early, no shadow and spring is just around the corner. But by midday the fog has cleared and the sun is shining, casting shadows everywhere and frightening the groundhog back into its burrow. In the afternoon, the delicate cirrus clouds spread and thicken into cirrostratus, obscuring the setting sun, so no shadow and we're in for snow.
          The weather report predicts snow tomorrow, but then this is the Midwest, so you never know.